From artistic collage to altered books, the shabby look has fast become one of the hottest trends in scrapbooking, as is likely to remain for a while.  With a huge array of intriguing products both traditionally and digitally, where do you begin and how can you keep it simple?

Most of us began scrapping with "clean lines" and may feel a bit uneasy when it comes to mixing and matching, tearing and distressing all of the fibers, ribbons, charms and decorative papers associated with a "shabby-chic" look. The good news is that there are really only three key elements that make up shabby-chic:  an aged or distressed look, lots of layering and a simplified color palette. Combine these elements, familiarize yourself with a few simple techniques, and you can easily achieve your own shabby look to create layouts with a playful, vintage charm.

 Here are some easy starts to unlock your own unique "shabby-simple" style:

 -Begin with heritage photos, as they lend themselves to the feel of shabby style.  Use muted tones of layered vintage papers to reflect the mood of the photos.

-Repetition of two or three colors will tie the layout together. Use multiple layers of designs, patterns, and embellishments.  These layers add depth to the page and can be as simple as a tag or ribbon.  Add more layers as your comfort level increases.

-Distressing your layers traditionally is a breeze using "Digital Distress" inks.  They come in a wide variety of colors (infinite to be exact).  Distressing papers digitally is easy, too, it just takes of bit of practice using your image editor. Here are the simple steps:

1. Add a new raster layer
2. Choose the brush tool and use a chalk brush with a very low opacity (I use 15-25%) 
3. Set your foreground color to a black, brown or olive hue
4. Edge brush your desired pieces with jagged strokes
5. Erase your "grunge" with the eraser tool if it seems too heavy or you can adjust the opacity of the layer, as well.

Remember to keep it simple; the effect you are trying to achieve is a weather-comfortable look that easily lends itself to a vintage feel.

To make simple-shabby even more simple, CottageArts.net has already done the shabby work for you! There are CDs and many page paks to choose from to get this look. Some of my favorites are...Simply Shabby CD, Grunge Page Pak, Shabby Page Pak, Music Page Pak, and Shabby Daisy Page Pak. Simply Vintage CD also has some great shabby stuff!